Every day the voice of atheism grows louder, more confident, backed by ever-increasing evidence, reason and logic. Every day the religious respond by sticking their fingers in their ears and shouting "La!La!La!La!La!"

The U.S. has more churchgoing than any other major democracy and it reports much higher rates of murder, rape, robbery, shootings, stabbings, drug use, unwed pregnancy, and the like, as well as occasional tragedies such as those at Waco and Jonestown. There may be no link between the two conditions, but the saturation of religion has failed to prevent the severe crime level. Societies rife with fundamentalism and religious tribalism are prone to sectarian violence. In contrast, England, Scandinavia, Canada, Japan, and such lands have scant churchgoing, yet their people are more inclined to live peaceably, in accord with the social contract. The evidence seems clear: To find living conditions that are safe, decent, orderly, and 'civilized,' avoid places with intense religion.

The radical novelty of modern science lies precisely in the rejection of the belief, which is at the heart of all popular religion, that the forces which move the stars and atoms are contingent upon the preferences of the human heart. (Walter Lippman)

I often get letters, quite frequently, from people who say how they like the programs a lot, but that I never give credit to the almighty power that created nature, to which I reply and say: "Well, it's funny that the people, when they say that this is of the almighty, always quote beautiful things, they always quote orchids and hummingbirds and butterflies and roses. But I always have to think too of a little boy sitting on the banks of a river in west Africa who has a worm boring through his eyeball, turning him blind before he's five years old, so presumably the god you speak about created the worm as well, and now, I find that baffling to credit a merciful god with that action." (David Attenborough)

Those who cavalierly reject the Theory of Evolution, as not adequately supported by facts, seem quite to forget that their own theory is supported by no facts at all. Like the majority of men who are born to a given belief, they demand the most rigorous proof of any adverse belief, but assume that their own needs none. (Herbert Spencer)